22,220 OFFICIAL ENGAGEMENTS...

The Duke of Edinburgh’s first ever official solo engagement was a trip to a boxing match at the Royal Albert Hall in 1948.

As Prince Philip retires at the age of 96, he has carried out 22,220 solo engagements since the Queen acceded to the throne in 1952, plus many more following his wedding in 1947.

Buckingham Palace said that, as far as they are aware, the Duke’s first solo public engagement was on March 2, 1948 when he went to the London Federation of Boys’ Clubs Boxing Finals at the Royal Albert Hall.

The Court Circular, published in The Times the next day, recorded that the Duke, then 26, presented prizes following the championship and that he was patron of the Federation.

The entry appeared between a notice that Queen Mary had visited a gallery to view a painting and another that declared that the Earl of Bessborough had appendicitis but had undergone a successful operation.

His first engagement with the Royal Marines was a dinner in the Officers’ Mess at Eastney Barracks on July 15, 1953.

Philip, who was 32, wore smart Royal Marines mess dress. The Times recorded how he “motored from Odiham to Eastney Barracks”, and watched the massed bands of the Portsmouth Command beat retreat on the cricket field.

The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, and Philip’s first joint engagement, post marriage, is believed to have taken place on December 16, 1947 when they gave an “Afternoon Party” at the Palace.